Fire can be Love or Hate
by flamingapples
Summary: A wild girl enters their lives as a deadly enemy... She experiences love, compassion, sacrifice for the first time... Who is she? And what was she sent out to do? Ben/OC - definitely Julie-hate inside MUHAHA. T for language and possibly sexual themes.
1. Wanted

Summary:  
_A strange girl enters their lives as a deadly enemy... She learns what it's really like to have powers, experiences love, compassion, and sacrifice for the first time. Who is she?_

Hey all! My first real fanfiction, and a Ben 10 one to boot! So, just read. Yeah. 'Kay.

(contains OC, mild swearing, and Julie-hate)

* * *

"Chili fries, please," said Ben to the fast food cashier. "Thanks," he added, when a red tray with spicy French fries was handed to him. He sat at the table already occupied by Gwen and Kevin and started to munch quickly on his snack, careful to spill as little chili sauce on his tray as possible. (A/N: He spilled the fries onto the tray, they're not in a box, and he's a little kiddie.) Usually the fast food restaurant would feature puzzles, and Ben loved collecting the puzzles.

As he wolfed down his last French fry, he stared at the picture on the tray. It was no puzzle.

"Uh, guys?" Ben said to his two friends. "Does this-"

"Whoa. She looks really familiar," observed Gwen, looking over at the tray. "I feel like - like I've seen this girl before! But... I can't remember though..."

Instead of a kids' puzzle, as Ben Tennyson had expected, a huge wanted poster was printed onto the tray. The girl depicted looked like a wild animal: Her untamed black hair reached a few inches below her shoulders in front, and appeared to have been slashed off instead of cut properly with scissors. She was wearing a dark cape, giving her a goth look, with a blood-red brooch clipped at her neck. She looked about nine or ten, a bit young to be on a wanted poster, Ben thought. However, the haughty look on her face showed no remorse for her wrongdoings, whatever they were.

"What do you think, Kevin?" Ben asked. "Kevin?"

Kevin said nothing, only stared at the girl's haughty profile with distaste.

"I wonder what she did that got her on a wanted poster," Gwen wondered aloud. "I mean, what is she, maybe nine? Ten?"

"This was taken _five years ago_," broke in Kevin, irritated at the two's lack of knowledge. "Fyregirl was arrested for selling lethal venom to DNAliens, which they planned to use to wipe humans out. The Plumbers caught her before the planes flown off with the shipments of venom and took her to jail. Looks like she escaped pretty recently though."

Frankly, this was the most talking he had ever done at once. Gwen and Ben were quite taken aback.

"How d'you know that?" asked Gwen, stunned.

Kevin resumed his pointed silence, glaring again at the poster.

"Well, whoever she is," Ben decided, "we're going to hunt her down and bring her back to justice," Ben decided.

If only her haughty face would stop popping up in his mind...

* * *

A girl with inky hair and dark eyes leapt nimbly from building to building in the dark night, leaving her shadow behind, searching for her next meal. Of course, she could've broken into her new school's cafeteria without a second thought, but cafeteria food never satisfied her hunger, and besides, she was a sophomore now. She had to start acting mature.

Suddenly she felt a twinge of worry, intertwined with a stab of caution. It was the first time she had felt something like this in five years.

Someone was looking for her. She knew it.

She paused in her leaping and closed her eyes, looking into her soul within.

Two guys. One girl. Green jacket. Red hair. Black shirt. Pink alien mana. Green watch. Plumber's badge.

A green watch and a Plumber's badge?

Whoa, whoa. Slow down.

Kevin Levin.

She opened her eyes fully, and they flashed with fire, burning with hate and vengefulness.

So Kevin Levin was looking for her. What did he expect, payment? The weapons were destroyed by that Ben Tennyson and that red-haired freak anyway, so the deal was off, of course.

Ben Tennyson. That was probably the other guy she had seen in her introspection. And the girl... Gwen, was it? Probably his sister or cousin, they resembled each other a little...

The boy - Ben Tennyson - had been wearing a green watch.

The Omnitrix.

Rumored to be the most powerful weapon in the galaxy. Yes, that would make a rather fine gift for her master, wouldn't it?

A smirk formed on her lips as she began to form a scheme as of how to snatch the Omnitrix away. Through trust, most likely...

The three of them were looking for her. Most likely saw her on one of those stupid crappy wanted posters at the chili fries place. Her friend _had_ to stop printing those damn things. But of course, that would make it all the more convenient... The Omnitrix would walk right into her open hands, wouldn't it?

"Let them find me," she hissed into the darkness, while she scanned the town from atop a water tower. "Let them try."

And a ball of fire ignited in her partly-gloved hand, like a warning signal, flashing in the night.

* * *

Thanks for reading! ^^ I have a tendency to write chapters on the short side, because honestly, I find long chapters quite boring haha.

Constructive criticism, please! (: What suggestions do you have?


	2. School

Chapter two ! Thank you for reading! (:

* * *

Ben yawned and stretched lazily in his desk at the back of the room.

_Second semester of sophomore year,_ he thought, _and my first class has to be_ Physics? _Shoot me._

"Don't worry, Ben," Julie said soothingly, seeing the stressed look on her boyfriend's face. She had chosen the seat on his immediate left. "We'll get through this together. We always will. It'll be okay." She giggled flirtatiously and put her delicate hand on his arm. Being around a guy always made her so happy. (A/N: Bitch, I hate her.)

"You bet," replied Ben, winking at her.

He was just reaching around to give her a one-armed hug when the doors banged open, and a girl walked in.

A girl with a haughty face and ink-black hair, which seemed to have been slashed off instead of properly cut with scissors.

"You!" Ben shouted without thinking, pointing at the new girl.

There was an icy silence as they stared as each other.

"Me... what?" she said calmly.

Another cold silence. Ben was at a loss for words, unsure of what to say to this terrible (yet strangely attractive - in a demented way) girl.

"That's right," she said quietly. "I didn't think so."

"Miss Burne, your seat in the back of the room," said the professor, not looking up from his magazine, "next to Mr. Benjamin Tennyson."

Both the new girl's and Ben's eyes widened.

"Wait, Miss Burne," the professor called after her. "Introduction first." He stowed his magazine away and pointed to the front of the room.

"Miss Burne's" eyes narrowed, and Ben thought she was going to attack the professor. Instead, she just shuffled submissively to the front of the room and glared at the class, most of whom cowered in their seats.

She looked quite different than the girl from the wanted poster, in Ben's opinion. Her gothic outfit had diminished to a crimson tee-shirt (on which were inscribed the words "Don't Play with Fire") and dark denim shorts, which revealed legs that seemed to have emerged from an encounter with a group of rabid animals. Her feet were clad in black Converse shoes, and on her forearms were dark orange gloves with the fingers cut off and a few scars peeking out. Ben liked this outfit better than - hold on, he wasn't supposed to like this girl! He already had Julie, and wasn't that enough?

"Well?" the teacher said pleasantly. Ben thought he was being rather brave. Her eyes seemed to be full of murder.

"Hope Burne," the girl growled unexpectedly. "Fifteen, born in February. Don't mess with me... or else."

And with that, she picked up her backpack and resumed her seat.

"Not very pleasant, is she?" Julie whispered fearfully to Ben, as Hope plunked down on Ben's right.

Hope shot an angry look in her direction. "Shut the hell up, bitch."

Shocked tears started at Julie's eyes. Never had a mean word been said against her, ever.

Ben sprang to Julie's defense in an instant. "Hey, there's no need to talk to my friend like that, apologize!"

That earned him another murderous look from Hope. "I can say whatever I want to say," she hissed back. "It doesn't concern you."

A retort jumped to Ben's lips, but the professor called, "No more talking, books out!"

As he reluctantly pulled his textbook out, Ben ground his teeth and seethed about how much he already hated that "Hope Burne" - what kind of a name was that, anyway? - and how unbearably conceited she was, and how he longed to slap his Omnitrix right now. He would go Humongosaur on her, and squash that bitch flat on her ass. That would show her.

If only she didn't make him so uncomfortable...

At last, the bell rang, signaling the end of the hour-long class.

_Thank God_, thought Julie, surprising even herself a little bit. Normally, she loved listening to her teachers drone on about interesting facts, but today, she could barely keep her mind on the lesson. She didn't think she could stand to watch Ben staring at Hope another minute! Every few minutes her boyfriend had glanced at the hideous goth girl and hadn't been asking for her notes like usual.

_And_ Hope had called her a bitch! How could she! She was probably just _jealous_ because _she_ didn't have a nice, understanding boyfriend like Ben Tennyson. Oh, how unusually handsome he looked today...

"Nice watch. Where'd you get it?"

Julie turned, and gasped. Hope had her dirty little hand laid on Ben's!

She almost fainted! How dare she!

Julie decided right then and there that she_ hated _Hope Burne!

The bell had rung. The whole class had filed out quickly, including the professor. Hope did not.

She collapsed into a seat at the front of the room.

Hope undid the mini-skateboard keychain from her waist.

"_En grande_," she muttered, tossing it on the floor.

Her skateboard popped onto the floor and grew in size until it was the size of a normal skateboard.

"Whew! Have you _showered_ lately?" said the skateboard. "You _reek_ like that DNAlien sewer we had to-"

"Shut up, Rooks, or you're gonna stay like that."

The skateboard didn't speak.

"Good demon," said Hope sarcastically, throwing a dog biscuit at it. "_En homo-sapiennus, Rooks!"_

The skateboard sprouted thick arms, legs, and a head, then morphed into a burly, mischievous sixteen-year-old boy with jet-black hair, narrowed eyes, and quite a lot of scars. He was clad in a black shirt and dark jeans, and the look on his face resembled Hope's. He pounced on the dog biscuit and devoured it hungrily.

"About time - mistress."

"Don't call me that," she said sharply, avoiding his dark eyes.

"Ahh..." yawned Rooks lazily, as he proceeded to stretch his limbs, puffing out his chest. "Haven't been in human form since -"

"- yesterday, you ungrateful bastard," Hope hissed. "And let's not forget the two hundred dollars I now owe the bakery and the cheesecake shop."

"People shouldn't cling on to the past," he said quietly. "They should learn to - what was the phrase? _Move on_. Anyway, with this type of food, frankly, I can't see _how_ you can stop me from 'borrowing' from other places."

Hope said nothing. Rooks stopped his ostentatious stretching and sat down as well, staring at Hope.

"No progress yet, I see," he said softly.

"_Shut the hell up_, Rooks," Hope repeated with a trace of anger in her voice. "I have to plan this carefully, or I'll end up in fucking prison just like before. 'Least no one recognizes me now, not with that shitty mask on anymore."

"Yes, that mask didn't make such a good fashion statement on that pretty little face - _Fyregirl_."

Hope didn't answer.

"What have you learned about them? Sufficient information, I hope?" growled Rooks, inspecting his fingernails.

"I've seen half of the new transformations on that Omnitrix," said Hope grudgingly, more to herself than to her demon companion. "There's the grass-fire one, the hideous ice-butterfly thing, the fat orange crab, the blue monkey - and that giant dinosaur..."

"Correct." Rooks nodded, sucking his thumb. "And the girl?"

"I know that redhead uses those pink energy beams to attack."

"And the last one?" Rooks said quietly.

"Kevin Levin can absorb energy," Hope said even more quietly. She didn't want to think about everything that happened between them when they had been working together.

"Quite a fix you had yourself in there, when you two were partners back then," smirked Rooks, reading her mind. "What about that girl sitting on the other side of Green-Jacket Boy? I thought she was kind of cute."

"PFFFFT, that bitch? She gives me a bad aura - like, if I get too friendly with her, she'll stab me in the back."

"That's karma for you," observed the demon, smirking. "You're not - _jealous_ of her, are you, now?"

"Please, don't make me laugh."

"Please, don't make me smirk again. When was the last time you even smiled?"

Hope shot a murderous glance at the demon, and a fireball appeared in her hand.

"Don't make me throw this at you."

The demon rolled his eyes. "We're in school. You wouldn't dare."

"I would."

"Have you even been practicing lately?"

Silence.

"Fuck that," Hope answered, standing up and grabbing her bag. "All I know is that by tomorrow, I'll be in Ben Tennyson's inner circle. _En bordus-skatte._"

Rooks transformed back into a plain skateboard. Hope picked it up and shuffled out of the room.

* * *

Again, thank you for reading! It means a lot, yo! Don't forget to comment, or HOPE WILL BURN YOU TO A CRISP.

lol just kidding people have to stop clinging to the past lol


	3. Revelation

HEY ALL, WASABI ? I'M BACK WITH CHAPTER THREEEEEE. *imaginary applause*

I wanted to put Julie in here somehow so I can continue bashing her. I hate the fact that she serves no real purpose in the show. But alas, I had no way of putting her in here. Ah, well. /:

I hope this chapter satisfies your fanfiction needs. (:

* * *

"I'm telling you, the new girl's a witch!"

"There you go again, Ben, always jumping to the most insensible conclusions!" said Gwen in an annoyed voice. "Personally, I thought she was really cool. We're lab partners in Chemistry class."

"It's that girl from the wanted poster, Gwen!" Ben shouted. "That means she's capable of doing a lot of terrible things!"

"Like calling your girlfriend a bitch? Sounds pretty normal to me," interjected Kevin, taking another sip of his soda.

"Can it, Kevin," said Gwen.

The three of them were at the school park across the street. Nearby, Hope Burne could be seen - skateboarding? Ben would never have believed it, but sure enough, there she was, even though her face showed no sign of pleasure or effort. For the whole day Ben hadn't been able to concentrate - or shake off the feeling of overwhelming familiarity about her. He voiced this to Gwen and Kevin.

"I know, right?" was Gwen's reaction. "It's like - I was like, best friends with her or something! I feel _so much_ like I've met her before!"

"That would be a laugh," smirked Kevin.

They glanced over at Hope on the skateboard half-pipe. Her movements were so swift and fluid that she seemed to be floating on a platform.

Floating... The idea didn't seem too far-fetched in Ben's opinion. He wondered if she had any superpowers.

Who _was_ this strange girl?

Hope could feel three extra pairs of eyes fixed on her as she continued practicing her fluid movements. Up and down, back and forth, jump and land, tip this way, face that - Rooks always said it was good practice for controlling a floating platform.

Suddenly one of Rooks's wheels started blinking. Hope sensed this, and sailed off the half-pipe and landed with a soft roll on the grass.

"What now?" she hissed at her skateboard.

"DNAliens at motor shop, Icabod Street, stat!" he reported officially.

"I'm on it."

Hope leapt high into the air and made a great swipe with her hands, creating a fiery platform. She jumped on it and flew away.

"What's going on?" said Gwen in bewilderment, watching the girl zoom off.

"Dunno, but we'd better follow her," answered Ben, "I smell trouble. Let's go, Kevin!"

As they scrambled into Kevin's green car, Ben couldn't help thinking about her - well, since they were following her, of course he'd probably be thinking about her - but still...

The four of them arrived at the scene of the crime at exactly the same time.

"What the -" said Ben and Hope in unison, noticing the other. "Never mind, no time now."

The motor shop's doors banged open, and DNAliens swarmed out, carrying various stolen motor parts.

The Alien Force clamored out of the car. Kevin slapped the pavement and absorbed the cement; Gwen created a pink barrier made of alien mana to keep the DNAliens from escaping; Ben slapped the Omnitrix and transformed into "Big -Chill -"

But just then, Hope swerved in, her eyes literally burning with fire, and fireballs aglow in her hands.

"You fucking DNAliens have pissed me off one time too many this month. _Pyrus Mano Commiquite - Asparr!_"

With one single swish of her hands, Hope had knocked out a good portion of the DNAliens and severely burned the rest. They lay on the ground morbidly, most of them mutilated like zombies.

"What the hell was that?" Even Kevin was surprised at this sudden show of power.

Realizing immediately what she had done, Hope seemed to become sane again and gasped, "No!" She steered her platform away from the horrible scene and flew off.

"Wait!" called Gwen. "C'mon, Kevin, let's go!"

They jostled into Kevin's car again and took off after the girl.

"Kevin, open the skylight!" ordered Gwen.

"No... need..." said Big Chill eerily.

"Ben, for God's sake, why didn't you change back?" Gwen said, exasperated at her cousin.

"No... time... for that... now..." the blue alien replied. "I'll... fly... after her... freeze her... in... her tracks..."

"Ben, no!"

But Ben had already melted through the car door and flown off after her.

Hope glanced over her shoulder at the commotion and saw with resentment that a big blue butterfly-alien was flying after her.

"Stay away from me, Tennyson!" she shouted irritably.

_So she knew_, thought Ben.

They swerved dangerously down alleys and crevices.

"I'm... not leaving... until... I get... answers..." hissed Big Chill. He shot a gust of icy wind at his target. Hope deflected it with a wave of her hand and a flash of fire.

Aiming carefully, Hope shot a fireball at the glowing Plumber's badge on her pursuer's blue chest, causing him to abruptly morph back into Ben Tennyson and plummet dangerously to the ground 20 stories below.

"Damn it," muttered Hope, "guess I'd better save him."

She steered her fiery platform under Ben, cushioning his fall - so that he landed on top of _her_.

"Ungh!" Ben grunted. "That hurt, why couldn't -" Then he noticed their positions. "Oh... Thanks...?"

"Nice of you to _drop by_," grumbled Hope into the platform. She was having a hard time concentrating on keeping them afloat. "Not to be _rude_ or anything, but, you know, "

Embarrassed, Ben hopped up. "Oh, right - um, sorry for that..."

Hope said nothing. Standing up, she lowered them to the ground and caused the fiery platform to evaporate. Then, she started running away quite rapidly.

"Whah - hold on!" Ben called, chasing after her again.

What was going on? First, she blows up a street full of DNAliens, and now she's running away? What was up with this girl?

Hope did not stop running until they reached Ben's favorite fast food restaurant.

"What the -" Ben murmured to himself, bewildered. Well, he _was_ kinda hungry... He pushed open the door.

"Chili fries," he heard Hope say to a broad-shouldered blond cashier. "Extra on the chili sauce, Scorch - thanks." She looked over at Ben, whose face betrayed surprise that she would be eating at this moment. "Well? Aren't you hungry, dumbass? Pick up your mouth and get over here." A fiery leash from her hand pulled over two stools; she seated herself on one at the counter.

Irritated, Ben made his way over to her and sat down next to her. She ordered another serving of chili fries and passed it to him.

"Fries are on me."

"Thanks," Ben said, surprised yet again. She was so different than her school self.

"Scorch, this is Ben Tennyson. Tennyson, this is Scorch." Scorch? First, Hope _Burne_, now _Scorch_?

"Looks like he hasn't been working out lately," observed Scorch, looking at Ben contemplatively. "You have horrible taste, Hope."

Ben smiled uncomfortably, but Hope said contemptuously, "I work alone, bastard." She turned to the brown-haired boy. "So, Tennyson. Questions?"

"Uhh... I better get Gwen and Kev-"

The restaurant's doors burst open, and Gwen and Kevin scampered in. They looked astonished to see Ben eating a snack.

"Aha!" exclaimed Gwen. "Pigging out at a restaurant when you're supposed to be looking for - oh," she finished, noticing the girl sitting next to Ben - it wasn't Julie Yamamoto, but Hope Burne. "Oops." Flustered, she ran a hand through her hair.

They went to the counter and sat next to Ben on the other two stools Hope had already grabbed for them.

"Gwen, Kevin, this is Scorch," Hope said in a bored voice. "Scorch, this is Gwen Tennyson and Kevin Levin - yes, Kevin Levin."

"Hi," Gwen and Kevin said.

"'Sup," answered Scorch in a bored voice.

"Okay, first things first," interrupted Ben, wanting to get this interrogation over with. "Are you from Earth?"

She gave him a weird look. "Noooooo," she drawled sarcastically, "I'm from Planet Stoopidohhh."

Ben decided to ignore her sarcasm, no matter how much it was getting on his nerves.

"Are you a Plumber's kid?" Gwen asked.

"Maybe, maybe not. They were murdered when I was a year old. Since then, I've kinda been on my own." She stuck a fry into her mouth.

"How did you know that Big Chill was me?" wondered Ben.

"I've seen some of your transformations when you fight other villains." Another fry into her mouth. "Your Omnitrix isn't exactly a secret, you know, what with you shouting, 'IT'S HERO TIME' every time before you actually transform."

"How come we never saw you around?" inquired Gwen.

A little fireball danced at the tips of her fingers as she shoved another handful of fries into her open mouth. "Fire isn't the only power I can work with."

"Strange. What about the DNAliens? Have you been in any mix-ups with them before?" inquired Ben.

She had a steely glint in her eye. "Snake venom."

She was so straightforward, he noticed. He had expected the complete opposite.

"Snake venom?" Gwen asked.

Hope didn't say anything.

"Five years ago, she was walking along the sewer," Scorch explained, "the sewer where a simply _dashing_ young lad lived -"

"I didn't _live_ there," Kevin scoffed unexpectedly.

"Whatever," Scorch dismissed. "She got bitten by a snake - I think it was a 'reincarnate of the Hydra', she later said -"

"The what?" Ben said stupidly.

"The Hydra, a giant hundred-headed snake from Greek mythology, Ben!" Gwen said impatiently. "Go on, Scorch."

"- only it had ten heads instead of a hundred. It was quite hungry, so it went for Hope, chasing her through the woods. She got bitten a few times too, would you like to see?" He pushed down the gloves on Hope's forearms (she had a stoic look in her eye, but she didn't resist) to reveal several large blood-red puncture marks. Ben couldn't tear his gaze away from the terrible scars.

"I managed to kill it though." Hope said quietly, a tone of pride still in her voice. "Its fangs contained a bit of lethal venom though. It was spreading through my entire body -"

"How did you survive?" asked Ben incredulously.

"She came to me pleading _desperately_ for help," grinned Scorch. "Lucky for her, my mom's a doctor."

"And? What does this have to do with the DNAliens?" asked Ben.

"I'm getting to that, Tennyson," she said sharply, staring right into his eyes for a split second. She looked away immediately. "I was really in debt to Scorch's mom, and I needed a quick way to earn a lot of money at once. I got wind of DNAliens and their request to have a new weapon made. I wondered if lethal venom would work. Their highbreed leader said it'd do perfectly, so I went to the zoo and blended together all the venom from the poisonous snakes. He was pretty proud of me."

"You what?"

"But I had no idea that they would use it to eliminate humans! And besides that, the bastards flew away before I got paid." She closed her eyes and turned her back on them.

It was as if a bolt of lightning had zapped Ben and Gwen. A sudden stream of memories flooded their brains as they remembered the young black-haired girl who had assisted the DNAliens in wiping out almost the whole town.

"YOU!" Ben shouted lividly. "THAT WAS _YOU_!"

"Ben -" Gwen started, alarmed.

But he ignored her. This - this _girl_, _Hope Burne_ - was the source of all the evil they had been fighting; _she_ was the one who had turned Kevin Levin evil in the first place, taught him lies, deceit, and treachery; _she_ was the girl who had sent a swarm of snakes after him, and they had bit him, and he had had to get surgery to cover it up -

And _how_ could _he_ have just sat there, listening to her pitiful sucker story, feeling pity for this - this _MONSTER_, when she had committed so much evil?

"HOPE BURNE!" he spat - to nobody in particular. She had disappeared.

Instinctively Gwen's head turned to the door, which seemed to open by itself and then swing quietly shut.

"Ben, I don't think you're going to see Hope anymore today," she said softly, an overwhelming feeling of pity washing over her.

* * *

awww... :'( stupid Ben and his "jumping to conclusions" :P

well! what did you think? review review review! or i'll get discouraged and discontinue this :(


	4. Sacrifice

YAAAAAAAAAAAAY. CHAPTER FOUR IS NOW UP. Enjoy! (:

* * *

Ben drummed his fingers restlessly on his desk. He had never expected Hope Burne to be that _girl_ who had framed him and almost got _him_ thrown in jail five years ago.

And yet... why did he feel so uncomfortable about his outburst yesterday?

"Ben? Is everything all right?" asked Julie timidly, putting a hand on his arm again.

"Mm, s'okay," he mumbled, fiddling nervously with his hair. "Just feel kinda - guilty about doing something..."

"Really? What did you do, Ben?" she asked earnestly. "Tell me."

Ben smiled. Julie always knew the right words to coax him into talking. "Well... yesterday, that new girl - Hope - treated me to some chili fries," he explained. "Then I asked her some questions about her past - you know she's the girl from the wanted posters they print there?"

"I thought they looked kinda similar," Julie noted skeptically, concealing the enormous chasm of jealousy opening up inside her. He'd eaten a meal with her? As in, a date?

"Yeah, they're the same person. Well, she told me that she'd gotten arrested five years ago for selling lethal venom to the DNAliens - and it was like, a sudden flashback in my mind! I remembered that _five years ago_, _she_ was the one who'd also framed _me_, and I almost got thrown in monster prison by it!"

"Are you kidding me?" gasped Julie. "I can't believe it!" The chasm of jealousy and hatred inside her had widened even more.

"Yeah, I know, right?" Ben agreed, amazed. "It's like, like a twist of - HOPE BURNE!"

She quickly withdrew her head from the classroom doorway and made a break for it. Ben flung down the pencil he had been twiddling and raced furiously after her.

"COME BACK HERE, HOPE BURNE, YOU TRAITOROUS THIEVING B-"

He could not recall the last time he had ever been as enraged as this. His fury prevented him from thinking properly; all he knew was that he had to kill this - this _monster_ - and soon, before she could cause any more harm to anyone. He twirled the Omnitrix dial and slapped it. (A/N: They're outside the school boundaries, like in some part of the city.)

"HUMONGOSAUR!" roared the three-story-tall beige Tyrannosaurus Rex. He stomped after Hope, who had created another platform of fire and was zooming just beyond his reach.

They reached the beach. Humongosaur slipped to a stop at the shore, but Hope zoomed out above the vast blue ocean, stopping and turning around only when she was definitely out of reach.

She turned, and instead of her usual rebellious stance, Ben was shocked to see her sad and regretful.

"Can you... forgive me?" she murmured sadly. "I was wrong... to harm you..."

Harm him. She had hurt him deeply, and nothing was going to change that.

"Go," growled the T-Rex indifferently. "Go, and never show your hideous face here again. Stay away from me and my friends."

She did nothing, only standing there, staring at the dinosaur. Her sad expression had faded, to be replaced by one of defiance and obstinacy.

"Go," grumbled Humongosaur, louder. "Didn't you hear me? I said, GO!"

"No!" Hope exclaimed, fireballs appearing in her hands. She lunged toward Ben, who held his hands up for defense - but it wasn't Ben she'd been aiming for.

She tackled the DNAlien who had materialized out of nowhere and brutally forced it to the ground. Knocking the laser blaster out of its hands, she gave it a strong punch to the head, and it went limp.

Ben stared incredulously. He transformed back. What was happening?

He had definitely underestimated her, that's for sure.

Her hands aglow with more fireballs, which burned fiercely, menacingly.

"Oh shit," she whispered, as about a hundred more appeared in front of their eyes.

Instinctively Ben transformed into the ice-blowing alien.

"Nice choice, Tennyson." Was she being sarcastic?

A sheet of ice issued from his mouth; it wrapped around half of the attackers, freezing them. Ben hardly had time to marvel at his improving abilities before Hope blasted them with a blazing fireball.

Ben was furious. "What... was that for?"

Hope shot him a look of irritation. "How stupid can you be! Didn't you study Physics?" she shouted back angrily, knocking over a dozen attackers with a fireball as she spoke. "Their bodies can't handle such extreme temperature changes that quickly!"

"Oh." He knew that... of course.

Finally, after much bloodshed on the DNAliens' part, they had extinguished all of their attackers.

"Whew!" Ben said, morphing back into himself. "That was -"

"Watch out!" Hope yelled, pushing him to the side. The laser barely singed the tips of his hair, but they were safe. With one last grunt she aimed a fiery boomerang at the lone creature. It shrieked in terror, dropped its weapon, and ran away.

Ben waited a few minutes, and then decided that no more were going to show up. He then cleared his throat and said awkwardly, "Uhh... Anyway, um, Hope... thanks - thanks for - you know, saving me."

There was no reply except for Hope's heavy panting.

"Oh, come on, you aren't _tired_ from fighting that lot?" A smirk formed on his face. He was on top, for once. "I've fought _twice_ that much before," he bragged, giving her a taste of his own sarcasm.

Still no answer, besides her short, ragged breaths. Looking around at her back, he noticed she seemed to be - licking herself?

"Eww, you're disgusting," he whined dramatically, whirling her around. "Why are you - WHOA!"

There was a severe cut through the glove on her right forearm, which was bleeding freely like a faucet of blood. Intermixed with the red substance was a few droplets of a purplish liquid. Ben started to ask, but then he saw the projectile needle lying on the ground beside her. Its tip was missing.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?" Ben panicked, immediately trying to rip off part of his shirt for a bandage.

"What would you have been able to do?" she said quietly, trying to keep an edge to her voice.

_What was wrong with her? t_hought Ben, _trying to be tough at a time like this!_

"Snake - venom," she growled, her voice growing alarmingly faint.

Ben transformed into Big Chill again; scooping her up in his skinny arms, he opened his blue wings wide and headed straight toward the hospital as quickly as possible. Hope was still trying in vain to lick the venom out of her bloodstream.

A last gasp, and she was quiet.

* * *

*dramatic curtain call*

Well?


	5. Connections

CHAPTER FIVE, WHOOOOO. Yeah, go for it. Read to your heart's content.

* * *

Gwen, Kevin, and Julie ate lunch quietly in the cafeteria. They had been waiting for fifteen minutes for Ben to show up. Each of them had issues to talk with him about.

"I wonder where he could be," voiced Julie worriedly. 'He went to the hospital almost three hours ago..."

"He WHAT?" exclaimed the other two. "Why didn't you tell us he went to the hospital?"

"Oh... oops?"

"BEN!" Gwen shrieked through her cell phone at her cousin. "Why the _heck_ didn't you _tell_ me you were at the hospital?"

"It was nothing serious!" Ben replied indignantly. "Just a bit of - you know - um, lethal snake venom..." His voice trailed off. "How'd you find out anyway?"

"Wait, it wasn't Ben who was hurt!" Julie called out from the back seat. "It was girl Big Chill was carrying in his arms -" The jealousy in her voice wasn't too hard to discern.

"Oh, great," said Gwen, exasperated. "It's not even _you_ that was hurt? Who is this - it's a girl?"

"She's waking up. Gotta go." A click, and then silece.

A slight movement. She opened her eyes slowly, but they were devoid of the vivid life and defiance they had held before. Gradually she moved to a sitting position.

"Hope?" Ben said tentatively.

"Master..." she said drearily.

Master? Ben held his breath, but he did not correct her. It was obvious she was in a dreamlike state. If she kept talking, he might be able to get information of some sort. How did he know she had really turned good?

"Master," she murmured, "Master, I'm not sure I want to do this anymore. Maybe the Omnitrix is better off in his hands..."

So she, like everyone else, was only interested in the Omnitrix.

"I don't know if this is right, Master," she continued, "all this - lying - tricking people - deceiving... I - I'm not sure if I should do this to... Ben Tennyson, Master..." Defiance crept onto her face again; she looked straight at Ben, but he could tell she was still under her trance.

"It's okay, Hope," he said softly. "You can do whatever you feel is right."

An insane smile lit her face. "Thanks, Master.

"You know, Tennyson and I are quite similar in many ways... We are both stubborn, afraid to waste time, and are both attracted to someone useless. However, I don't understand why he's so protective of some things. His 'girlfriend' gives me a bad feeling. He's always talking about her, what's with that?"

Ben let the words sink into him. She was attracted to someone?

"Don't worry yourself over things like that," Ben said quietly.

Just then, the doctor walked in, holding a small clipboard.

"Oh, we had no idea she would be talking so soon," he noted kindly. "Does she seem okay?" he inquired of Ben.

"She's fine - just been talking about weird things," answered Ben wonderingly, "but what?"

"Ah, she might be having hallucinations of old memories and such, but that'll wear off with time," he said positively.

As if on cue, Hope slumped back onto her pillow and her eyelids drooped over her eyes.

Moments later, she sat bolt upright, eyes wide and fearful.

"What happened?" she yelled. "Where's Scorch? Who stole the Omnitrix? Why am I in these hospital bonds? And -" she noticed the white nightgown she was wearing, instead of her normal clothes. "- _who changed my clothes_?" she thundered indignantly.

"Calm down!" Ben gently pushed her back onto her pillow, but could do nothing about her fiery eyes. "It was just - a hallucination!"

At that moment, Gwen, Kevin, and Julie burst in, worried looks plastered on their faces. "Is she okay? What happened?"

Hope's eyes darted frantically to the doctor, then to Ben, then to the others. "Who - who _are_ you people?"

"I'm - Ben Tennyson... remember?" Ben felt a twinge of pain that he didn't recognize him.

"I am Doctor X. Vakkine," the doctor said pleasantly, showing no signs of alarm. "It appears you somehow had snake venom - a quite lethal kind, may I add - injected into your bloodstream. However, since this strapping young boy was able to transport you here so quickly, we have been able to harmlessly extract it from your blood. But my records say you are used to rough, harsh treatment. This is unacceptable; for a few weeks you cannot stress yourself too much. I recommend you stay relaxed for a while as you take your medication for two to three weeks."

"She can stay at my house until she gets better," offered Ben, much to Julie's apparent dismay - which, he realized, did not bother him that much now.

"That is an excellent idea, Mr. Tennyson. Well, it's best not to dilly-dally now, time's a-runnin'. Tick-tock, visiting hours will soon be over." He strode out of the room.

"I remember now," Hope mumbled sleepily. "I was sacrificing myself to save someone."

"Ben, what happened?" Gwen asked in a hushed voice.

Ben looked extremely squirmish. "Uhh... we were fighting DNAliens... and - she pushed me aside... and, um, the dart with the - the snake venom hit her... instead of me," he said in a small voice.

"Oh, so it's _your_ fault she's like this, Tennyson," concluded Gwen loudly. "I can't believe you were stupid enough to -"

"I don't think it's Ben's fault!" Julie cut in indignantly. "It was definitely her _own_ fault for hurting herself -"

"So you'd rather I let the idiot _die_?" he said angrily. "Is that what you want?"

"He's _not_ an -"

"Can I talk to her for a minute?" Kevin requested suddenly. "Alone?"

It surprised the other three - Kevin had never shown much interest in Hope before.

* * * * * * * * * *  
{_Hope's POV}_

As the door shut quietly, I became more alert, more awake.

I sat up.

"What do you want, Levin?" I said in a low voice, clenching my fists on my starched blanket.

"Same thing I would've asked you five years ago," he stated.

"Payment?" I guessed, the ghost of a smirk on my face. "You _know_ they confiscated your weapons anyway."

"What are you thinking of _doing_?" he burst out suddenly. "You don't need the Omnitrix, and your boss doesn't either! I thought you were _done_ with all those worthless lies, all that _deceit_ you use to get your own way! What's your _problem_?"

I sighed. "I was hoping it would help repay the debt I still owe _you_ from five years ago - and the debt I still owe you from those weapons you sold us -"

"If you haven't noticed, I've already had more than enough of that stupid green watch," he scoffed. "And I'm sick of hanging with that jerk Ben Tennyson."

"Then why do you?" I asked, nonplussed.

"They can't get along without me" was his lame reply. Nonetheless, he avoided my eyes.

I knew it. "Or maybe it's _you_ who can't get along without _them_," I smirked, "especially Gwen, no?"

"Shuddup, what about _you_?" he countered scornfully. "The way you stare at Ben, the way you talk to him - it's so damn obvious that you're totally smitten for him."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"What the hell are _you_ talking about?"

"I'm talking about you and Gwen!"

"I'm talking about you and Ben!"

"Don't forget I gave you your first kiss," I reminded him fiercely. "Otherwise, you'd have been stuck in your damn sewer forever."

"That was a _dare_," corrected Kevin irritably.

"That _you_ gave me." I grinned.

"That wasn't even a real kiss! It was more like a touch with your lips!"

"Why can't you still admit that I was your first love?"

"'Cuz you're a fatass bitch."

"And you're a stuck-up fag."

"Well, _you're_ an asshole!"

"And _you_, Kevin Levin, are a - a _SLORE_ - a slut and a whore!"

What followed was an intense staring showdown, sparks flying. All of a sudden we burst out laughing our heads off without a care in the world.

That laugh released a lot of pressure I'd been holding in for a long time. We both laughed until my throat was raw. My best friend Kevin was back!

"I'd better go." Kevin grinned. "'Twas fun talking to you after all these years."

"Yeah," I sighed, leaning back onto my pillow. I'm gonna miss my old buddy again, but now he has another "female friend" to help him through the rest of his life. "Say hi to Kai for me - you still see her, right?"

"Rarely, but you wouldn't wanna know her now." He stood up.

"Hey, gimme a consolation hug for all the years I'm not gonna see you again," I demanded, smiling.

"Fine with me."

He walked over and gripped my back tightly; I squeezed my best friend back just as hard.

"Oh, hey Gwen," I said cheerfully as the redhead walked in. She was actually quite pretty - well, not like the weird-looking girl from five years ago - but unhealthily skinny, I decided.

"Wow, I didn't know you knew what happiness was," she smiled, taking a seat in the visitor's chair.

"Well, I do," I replied happily. "Or maybe it's just this venom antidote. Or maybe it's because I just saw my best friend Kevin Levin again after five whole years."

She laughed. "'Best friend'?"

I gave her a brief account on the innumerous days we had spent in our youth, plotting against DNAliens and Plumbers alike, always thinking about the Omnitrix, and the many pranks we had pulled on each other, including the time when I'd given him a pink mohawk and dressed him up in frilly girly ballerina outfits. By the end of my stories, we were both wiping tears from our eyes from our laughter. I can't remember the last time I'd had a normal girl friend to talk to.

"Y'know, Gwen," I said, feeling much lighter than before, "I kinda wish I was nicer to you when we were younger."

"Same here," she giggled. She sounded quite giddy. "But then _you_ had to hate us and be all mean and hurt Ben so badly he had to be sent to the hospital; and then you sent him to jail too, so I think we'd look rather weird as 'best friends'."

My smile faded, and I shut my eyes regretfully.

"I wish I could take it back, Gwen," I murmured, slowly opening them again. "I wish I could take it _all_ back..."

She stroked my bandaged hands gently, as a big sister would.

"Don't regret who you are, Hope," she said quietly, "only regret what you've become, and try to change it. Sometimes I wish _I_ didn't tease Ben so much when we were little, because now he's all I got."

We both laughed sadly.

"How's Kevin getting along with the group?"

Gwen smiled dreamily. "He's great," she confided. "He's so nice and protective, and he always tries to help me whenever possible."

I felt like gagging. "This is Kevin Levin we're talking about, right?"

"Yeah, why?" she replied. "Oh, he changed a lot since five years ago."

"Have you two kissed yet?" I demanded suddenly.

"Wha-what?" she stuttered, snapping back to reality.

"I said, _have you two kissed yet_?" I repeated, grinning. "It's so obvious you like each other, but I'll bet he hasn't even ask you out yet," I cackled.

"I -"

"I'm so glad he found a new girl," I went on, beaming. "But if this new girl's going to be a wimp like you, maybe I'll just have to _take_ him back, Gwen." I grinned humorously. "Take my advice: Make the first move."

"But - what if he starts hating me?"

I can't remember the last time I felt this lighthearted in such a short period of time. That question made me crack up laughing so hard my stomach hurt. A reluctant smile crossed her face as well.

"You're so _naive_, Gwen Tennyson," I smirked. "Have you seen what he's like to people he _doesn't_ like? I repeat: _Make the first move_, 'cause he's too chicken to."

"Thanks." She beamed brightly. "Do you mind if I try now?"

"Knock yourself out," I giggled. "Thanks for stopping by!"

Before she left, she turned and said, "Hope? Why don't you come over to Ben's house on Christmas Day?"

What? Had I heard her correctly?

"Come again?"

"Ben's house? Christmas Day? The three of us will be there, you should come by!"

I was shocked.

"I - we'll see."

"Awesome! Can't wait to see you there!"

Christmas... What's Christmas?

"HOW COULD YOU STEAL MY BOYFRIEND?" were the first words I heard as a crazy black-haired lunatic burst through the doors.

"What the fireballs are you talking about?"

"YOU _KNOW_ WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!" she shrieked, looking quite deranged. "You're all Ben talks about, you're all he _thinks_ about, and there's even a hideous picture of you on his binder!"

"Does he have a black binder?" I asked with a grin on my face, "or a white one?"

She looked ready to throw something. I'd never seen Julie - or anyone else, for that matter - this out-of-control before, but I had to admit, it was pretty hilarious.

"That's - not - the POINT!" she screeched, actually grabbing fistfuls of her own hair. Damn, anger management issues much?

"So... what is?" I inquired innocently.

She punched me in the face as hard as she could (which wasn't very much) and stomped out, fuming and bringing her bad aura with her. I felt more relieved without her around - it felt like she was some sort of _demon_ or something.

Demon.

Hold on, didn't Rooks tell me something about a demon he'd met a while back? Something about there being a demon concealed in the school.

And if there was, then by process of elimination, it would've had to be Julie.

Julie, who always made some excuse to touch Ben's arm.

Julie, who always insisted on clinging around Ben, around the Omnitrix.

Julie, who hated me right from the moment she laid eyes on me.

Five years ago, I'd fought some of her kind. It was an intense battle, but in the end, I was the clear winner.

But one of them escaped, I remember. And now, come to think of it, Julie did look quite a bit like the older version of that demon.

Eliminate.

I looked out the window. The sun was peeking through the clouds.

So... Ben Tennyson thought of me a lot?

* * *

Ahhhhhhh, another chapter is over. I'm glad you've been reading this far! Keep it up! :)


	6. Traitorous

Chapter six, haaaaay pplz! I'm on a roll here! :D

This chapter's shorter compared to the others. Prepare thyselves, and onward we march!

* * *

"Hey, is everything okay?" Ben asked softly, seating himself in the visitor's chair. "I heard you and Julie having a yelling match just a second ago."

Her face split into a shocking grin. "Never better! She's just jealous of some non-existent bullshit between you and me."

Ben forced a laugh, but he fidgeted. "Like - like what?"

She laughed spiritedly, a sound quite foreign to him. He decided he liked it though. "And I quote" - she struck on a high voice in a cruel imitation of Julie's - "'You're all Ben talks about, you're all he _thinks_ about' - and then some shit about a binder or something," she snickered.

"That's - that's ridiculous," said Ben nervously.

"But Ben," she said, changing her voice to a serious one and leaning forward," I really - _really_ - think you should break up with Julie."

Ben was dumbfounded. "What?"

_Shit_, she thought, _I should've voiced it differently_. "I mean - she gives me a bad feeling. A _really_ bad feeling. I'm willing to bet she's one of those vampire-demons - a _Kaizulli_. She can suck your blood dry if you let her."

Julie? A demon? That was impossible! They'd known each other for nearly five years, and she'd never hurt him once! (Or well, hurt him _on purpose_...)

"Are you - jealous?" His smirk was a mask for his rapidly beating heart. He wasn't sure which girl seemed more attractive to him these days - this wild demon-girl who had saved his life, or the orderly teacher's pet who had saved his report card.

"Gwen invited me to your house for Christmas," she said abruptly and casually, brushing her untamed hair out of her eyes. "She thought you'd like it."

Ben was about to scoff at her for changing the subject if he hadn't understood the words she'd just said.

"She wha -?"

"Hey, um..." she mumbled, avoiding his eyes.

"Yeah?"

"What's Christmas?"

Ben was dumbfounded, again. She didn't know what Christmas was? "Only like, the best time of the year!" he exclaimed. "It's when we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, and everyone gets together and opens presents! And sometimes there's mistletoe around too," he added.

"What are they for?" she asked softly.

"Hmm?"

"The presents?"

"Oh. They're for - well - when you love someone, you give them a present, see? Christmas is just more special because you're more generous and stuff."

"I see. What's mistletoe?"

"You honestly have never heard of mistletoe?" he laughed. Hope hugged her knees and looked away, blushing slightly.

_She's kinda cute when she acts like a real girl_, Ben found himself thinking. Seeing how serious she was, he stopped laughing and explained, "Well, tradition is that if you're caught with someone under the same piece of mistletoe (it's a plant), then you have to kiss. Simple, right?" He grinned.

She was quiet.

Then she asked another question that made Ben jump.

"Do you feel any satisfaction when you kiss Julie?" Her voice was stronger, more confident.

He stared at her; or, more accurately, her _lips_. They were a pale red, but red nonetheless; they appeared so soft and moist. He wondered what they would feel like against his.

And this time, he couldn't stop the flow of thoughts - nor did he want to, either.

"I dunno," he said distractedly. Then a sudden, reckless thought formed itself on his lips. "D'you wanna go to the Christmas Dance with me?"

She was so shocked she even jumped back a little.

"_What?_"

"I said," reiterated Ben, trying to keep his voice steady. "D'you want to go to the Christmas Dance with me?" Was this really the right choice?

She contemplated the matter. She turned it over and over in her mind.

Then, she replied, "Only if you go with Julie."

Ben couldn't believe his ears. He knew he himself was stupid, but _Hope_?

"Um, I meant, _go _with_ me_. You know - as my _date_?" Come to think of it, he couldn't believe himself either. Months ago, Julie was the only girl he could think of. Now, everything seemed to be all changing.

"I'm not stupid like you," she said in an annoyed tone. "I just don't think it's the right time for you to break up with Julie yet. I'll go to the dance - but only if you go with Julie as your date."

"I -" He started to argue, but then saw that it was a lost cause. He shrugged. "Okay then."

"I can't believe I just agreed to go to a stupid dance," Hope said, leaning back and running a strong hand through her untamed hair. "Now I need to go through all the trouble of finding a dress and putting on makeup and all that crap."

Ben laughed. He saw she was serious and laughed even harder, which made Hope put on a reluctant smile as well.

"Have you kissed any girls besides Julie before?" she laughed. "Actually, I'll bet you haven't even kissed a _girl_ before."

"Not really," he admitted. Then he took a deep breath. "Until now."

Before she could comprehend his words, he stood up, took her face in his, and rammed his lips onto hers. Through his eyelashes he could see her eyes grow wide, then droop downward as she absorbed the full impact of the kiss. They began to suck on each other's lips; Ben enjoyed the way her delicate mouth moved over his. His hand moved to the back of her head, stroking her hair gently.

As Ben drew away, he could see his own shock reflected in Hope's eyes.

"You're still going to the Christmas Dance with Julie," she said, a slight smile on her lips.

Ben knew it was useless to argue.

* * *

YES! JULIE HATE!1!1!ONEONEONE *scribbles swear words over Benlie*


	7. Confusion

Aah, this was a little shorter than i expected :P well TOO BAD, JULIE SHALL DIE! DIE, I TELL YOU, DIE! *stabs knife at photo of julie while laughing maniacally*

This chapter is in Hope's point of view. Enjoy!

* * *

It was a week before the Christmas Dance (A/N: I just realized I'm having their Christmas Dance in 2nd semester o_0 oh well, deal with it lol), but Ben still hadn't asked Julie yet. I know because I could see her being do damn overly flirtatious two seats away from me.

I needed to make the potion, and soon.

At the end of Physics, I scribbled _Supermarket at Kacki Route, Saturday 2pm_ onto a piece of my homework and shoved it down the back of his shirt.

As I was carrying my lunch tray to the table, Julie's wet lipstick smooch on Ben's cheek told me that he'd just done it. (God damn it, she was practically _slobbering_ over him like he just proposed to her or something. BITCH.) He winked at me victoriously, and I saw Julie go moody again. (A/N: Moody Julie. Moody Julie. Moody Julie. Bitch. ... Haha, say that 5 times fast :D).

"So, what's shakin'?" I asked casually, setting my tray down at their table.

"Got dates for the Christmas Dance," answered Ben and Kevin simultaneously. They high-fived.

"Who'd you blackmail to go with losers like you?" I laughed jokingly. "I'm kidding! KIDDING!" I added, grinning at Gwen's and Julie's indignant faces.

"Why are _you_ so happy?" demanded Julie. "I'll bet a hideous freak like _you_ doesn't have a date yet!"

"Like hell I don't," I replied cheerfully. "I got a 98 on my Math test! That's like, only the best score _ever_!" I popped a piece of steak into my mouth and chewed it like a fox would. "Besides, is it a crime for me to be happy nowadays?"

"Uhh... yay?"

"Thanks, I appreciate the abundance of happiness you are showering me with, Ben Tennyson," I said with another grin. I shoved a cookie into my mouth. "By the way," I added, taking out a crumpled list out of my pocket, "do any of you know where to get: lizard urine, tiger hangnails, and trout sperm? I need it for a Science experiment."

"I think I'm gonna puke -" Clutching her stomach pointedly, she rushed to the bathroom. Thank God, I didn't think I could stand her horrible aura any longer.

"Uhh... There's trout at the market?" suggested Ben.

"Never mind, I just said that to freak Julie out and get rid that sissy. Forget it," I said irritably, as he opened his mouth to argue. "Next week there's gonna be a _full moon_ on the day of the Christmas Dance. That means that at exactly 9pm, Julie Yamamoto's gonna go through her Kaizulli vampire-demon transformation and eat everyone's souls and drink their blood and all that stuff you think only happens in movies. I NEED to stop her."

The three of them looked at one another.

I sighed in exasperation.

"I've been looking at books and websites and shit -"

"I didn't know you could read," smirked Kevin.

"- and apparently Julie Yamamoto is the queen's daughter, she'll be crowned queen the day right after the dance." I glared at their uncaring faces, unsure why they didn't give a damn about this horrible bitch who, by the way, was going to practically _murder_ everyone at the dance. "If she can suck blood and devour souls with the powers of a princess, imagine what she can do with _queenly powers_; there's no telling what she'll be able to do."

"But Hope -" Ben said uneasily. "What if she can't help it?"

I banged my fist on the table. I was getting fired up again; I really did need to control my temper. Taking a few deep breaths, I said, "Think about it. If she _didn't _want to harm others, do you really think she would've agreed to go to the dance with you? I'm pretty sure you're her first target."

Ben couldn't believe it. His eyes were so wide they were ready to pop out at me and eat me alive. (Gwen and Kevin seemed to have lost the thread of the conversation. Oh well.) I felt guilty for putting him through this.

"If you didn't ask her to the dance," I continued, "she wouldn't have a reason to go, then I wouldn't be able to eliminate her."

There was no doubt about it, Ben was quite squirmish with the idea of his girlfriend for over a year vanishing suddenly at the hands of one of his - friends?

I was uncomfortable, too - a little bit.

"Oh my gosh, Hope, did you say you're going to the dance?" Gwen gushed excitedly, coming back to the conversation. "You _have_ to come, you'd look so cute in a dress!"

I gave Ben a sad smile and turned to his redhead cousin to talk about dresses and other girly stuff.

The plan of trust was going perfectly; I would definitely have the Omnitrix in no time.

But a small voice inside my head asked me if this was the right thing to do.

Saturday was a hell of a hectic day.

Ben and I met at the supermarket as planned, and we went inside without a word.

"Uhh, Hope? I know you probably have to go shopping or something, but why am I dragged along?"

"'Cause it's best if you stay away from the Kaizulli for a while," I answered, not looking at him. I was probably jealous, by that point, but I definitely wasn't not gonna acknowledge that.

I took out the list from my pocket again and examined it closely.

"Wait, I thought you said you didn't need that?"

"I said that I said it to get rid of Julie," I said quietly. "I didn't say I didn't need it."

"Oh - um, okay." He made a disgusted face as he read the list over my shoulder. His warm breath on my neck made me blush -

No! No! I was _not_ going to fall for Ben Tennyson, the boy with the Omnitrix! NO!

"Trout sperm. Wait here," I told Ben. Locating the trout tank, I turned invisible and balanced dangerously on the tank in front. After doing a little messy business with a guy and girl trout (at least, I _think_ they were, I couldn't tell really), I caught the trout's sperm in a plastic bag I'd brought along.

"That's disgusting," Ben declared, watching me stuff the bag in my backpack (I'd turned visible again and leaped off).

"Gee, ya think?" I scanned the list again. "Let's get the bull shit ingredient next."

"The what?"

"The _bull shit_," I repeated. "Y'know - cow poop?"

"Oookay, cow poop being an ingredient for _anything_ is totally not weird at all," he grimaced. "What are these _for_ anyway?"

For a potion, I answered silently in my head. A potion designed to wipe all memories about a certain person.

My pointed silence told him not to pursue the subject, so he didn't. "Okay... let's go get some cow poop then."

School bathroom stalls are disgusting. Who knows the last time when these were cleaned?

I glanced over at the list of ingredients Ben and I had gathered.

Trout sperm; bull shit; snail slime; tiger hangnails (those tiger claws left 2 more deep scratches on my arms, but they'd heal); lizard urine; chewed gum (times three, how delightful); monkey sweat; and dog spit.

These were only a few of the ingredients that went into the cooking pot Ben had "borrowed" from his parents. Add a bit of tasteless water and boil over a fire of my creation, and voilà - one memory-sapping potion.

"Now I just need the hair of the person to forget about," I mumbled to myself. "I'll need a Kaizulli's DNA," I told Ben while keeping my nose plugged - that damn potion stank more than Scorch's armpits without deodorant (how the hell do I know that? One word: wrestling).

"Would you mind telling me what this potion's for?" Ben demanded. He was sitting in the opposite corner of the bathroom stall, his face contorted in abhorrence. "I helped you brew this, didn't I?"

Yeah, I guess he did. I gave in. "It's a memory modification potion. Get Julie's DNA in here, and if you drink it, all your memories of her will be gone - poof."

Shit, I thought, seeing the expression on his face. I'd hurt him again. He smiled, but I knew it was a mask for all the pain he was feeling of losing someone he was close to; as insensitive as I knew I could be at times, this was one feeling I could definitely relate to.

Awkwardly I moved over to sit next to him, and put a hesitant arm around his shoulders.

"It'll be - okay, Ben - I - I promise..."

I closed my eyes in regret. I was never good at caring for other people.

I dropped my head on his soft shoulder and let it stay there. Somehow, he was comforted.

"Hope," he said softly.

I raised my head to look at him, and he kissed me full on the lips.

I don't get this feeling. I feel like another personality is forming inside me, and I can't even control it.

Half of me knows that I have to finish my mission and get that Omnitrix, no matter what. My master was in dire need of it, and the Omnitrix would be a perfect gift.

But the other half tells me something else. It tells me that deceiving others is wrong.

Whenever Ben and I make contact, I feel giddy. I feel hyper and want more.

What _is_ this feeling? Is something wrong with me?

* * *

DUN DUN DUN.

'Kay, moving on. Next chapter!


	8. Annihilation

OH MY GOD, CHAPTER EIGHT and you're still reading? What a miracle!

Right now, I'd like to thank TreeKanga, Grandiloquence, and VioletteRose for sticking with me through this story so far! ^^

* * *

Ben tapped his foot impatiently as he waited in front of Julie's house, wishing she would answer the stupid door already. He'd already rung it four times, only to get an agonizing "Hold on!" as a reply.

"How long is that bitch gonna take?" mumbled Hope to herself, checking her reflection in the rearview mirror of the car.

Finally the door opened, and there stood Julie in all her glamour. A light pink dress was draped on her body, falling down in smooth silky folds at her knees. It took Ben's breath away, and it made him once again want to forsake the plan of action he and Hope had schemed so carefully the night before.

He still wasn't sure if he believed Hope. How could it be true? How could this delicate angel be a - a demon?

"Julie," he murmured, extending a hand, "you look amazing."

"Aww, do I?" she giggled, faking humility. "You look nice too." A peck on his lips, but it meant nothing to Ben anymore.

_Skip the "you look nice" bullshit and get in already_, thought Hope impatiently. _The tux and gloves are fucking itchy!_

"Thanks. Shall we get going then?"

On cue, Hope walked around the limousine and stopped in front of the back door. She was disguised, to the best of her abilities, as a young chauffeur, which included dressing up in a stuffy tuxedo, tucking her hair into an cheap uncomfortable wig, dark sunglasses to hide her eyes (plus the makeup Gwen had excitedly applied on her face an hour ago), and white gloves to hide the scars on her hands (as well as the nail polish Gwen had painted on).

"Good evening, Madam and Sir," she said awkwardly in her strange man-voice, putting an English accent. "I shall be the chauffeur who will drive you two lovers to your Christmas Dance. Please, no overly graphic displays of affection." She opened the door mechanically like a robot.

"Oh, Ben," Julie said breathlessly. "You didn't have to do this for me!"

"I did," answered Ben. "I want this Christmas Dance to be more special than any other."

_Since it'll be your last_, Hope and Ben added silently.

Julie tucked her arm into Ben's while waving flirtatiously to the chauffeur, which infuriated Hope behind her sunglasses.

"Sorry, Miss, I'm gay," she growled, slouching into the driver's seat. What a whore.

Hope waited in the limo for a few minutes after her passengers had exited. She hadn't meant to drive so crazily (she was still fifteen, after all), but she really had hoped Julie wouldn't feel too well - she had to weaken her before she could take her down.

She slipped out of the tuxedo and into the beautiful silky black dress she and Gwen had compromised in buying (Gwen had flatly refused to let her show up at a dance in her usual outfit). It was a beautiful halter-top dress, with a crimson gem in the middle of her chest that seemed to glow like fire. Hope had also burned 2 fire tattoos on her shoulders, and "borrowed" someone's black heels to match, and she looked like a fiery messenger from heaven.

She tugged at the ribbon encircling her neck. She didn't like wearing dresses.

She glanced at the car clock. 7pm. Just two hours and it'll be over.

"Thanks, Rooks," she said quietly to the limo. "_En homo-sapiennus, Rooks!_" The sleek black limousine morphed into the heavily scarred skateboard demon, Rooks. He looked quite handsome in a dress shirt and pants, despite his dark tousled hair.

"The moon goddess looks down upon us," he said darkly, looking up at the round snow-white circle in the cloudless sky. "She knows what we're setting out to do tonight."

"Shut up, Rooks, you know I don't like to think about her," muttered Hope restlessly. "Let's - let's go in."

"As you wish, Mistress."

"I told you not to call me that."

"As you wish, Mistress."

She took his warm hand tentatively, and he led her through the open gym doors.

"Hope!"

Hope was almost knocked to the ground by the force of Gwen's hug.

"I'm so glad you came!" She beamed. "You look _amazing_ in that dress!"

"Thanks," replied Hope with a reluctant smile.

"Lighten up, yo, go out there and dance," said Kevin, appearing out of nowhere with a cup of punch in his hand. "Who's your date?"

"Rooks," answered the demon, grinning. "Dude, don't you think that DJ's _hot_?" He wolf-whistled.

"She's on _fire_," snickered Kevin. "Let's go chat her up." He winked.

"What the -" said Gwen and Hope, utterly nonplussed as the two boys roamed away. Then they burst out in laughter.

"C'mon, let's go talk to Ben," suggested Gwen. "He'll be glad to see you."

Taking her hand and ignoring her protests, Gwen led her to the table where Ben and Julie were chatting amongst themselves.

"Hey, Hope," Ben said, blushing. "Glad you could make it."

"You too," she mumbled, running a hand through the shaggy hair she had not bothered to tame.

Julie, however, kicked Hope under the table as hard as she could and started nudging Ben furiously.

"Julie! Want to dance?" he said in an exasperated voice. She grabbed his arm and led him onto the dance floor and started rocking out to the lively beat.

Gwen sighed in frustration, but Hope's face cracked into a grin, even though she wasn't sure what the sudden pang in her heart meant. Gwen glanced at the DJ table where Kevin and Rooks were busy flirting with the DJ (who would just as well have come naked, the clothes she was wearing!).

Hope noticed the source of Gwen's discomfort.

"Hey, being DJ looks fun!" Hope said brightly. "I hate this song anyway."

_*Hope grabs the camera and starts narrating :P in other words, Hope's POV*_

I sauntered right up to the DJ stage and shoved the three of them off the stage; they fell into an entangled heap in the corner of the gym. Smirking, I slipped on the disc-jockey headphones and quickly switched the song.

This song was dumb.

Next song.

This song was too slow.

Next.

Gross, country music.

Forward.

Song after song after song.

I hated all of them. Wasn't there any other music at this school?

I also hated all the giddy fags who had waltzed up and asked me to dance.

But even more, I hated how Julie was draped all over Ben. I mean, didn't the whore believe in personal space?

I glanced at the digital clock perched on the corner of the table.

Oh, shit!

Five minutes until nine!

I set down the headphones and rushed through the crowd, searching for Ben and the Kaizulli monster. Finally, I located them under the mistletoe some dumbass had planted in the far corner.

_Oh, for fuck's sake!_ was my immediate reaction. If her lips touch him in her monster stage, he'll get the blood sucked out of him!

"Hey, what's up?" I said nonchalantly, popping up right in front of them. "Sure is hot in here, isn't it? This dance is like, the bomb!" I had no idea what I was going to do now that I was here; all I knew was that I had to keep them from touching until after her transformation.

_You ruined it!_ yelled Julie's eyes furiously, but she said nothing.

"You look so handsome in these clothes, Ben," I said, my voice dripping with flattery. It was also essential to get Julie to swell with rage. Unfortunately, it seemed she had improved at self-restraint.

"Uhh, thanks?"

"Your hands," I murmured, taking them and rubbing them against my furiously blushing face, all the while keeping an eye on Julie - who was getting more infuriated by the moment, but still she did nothing. "They're so soft, and warm..."

Ben's awkwardness was definitely something to laugh at, but now was not the time. "You - you feeling okay, Hope?" he asked, concerned.

"Your chest - it's so - so _muscular_," I breathed, my hands roaming all around him.

Still no reaction.

I felt so incredibly disgusted with myself.

"I just want to - _do you._"

_BAM._

No reaction from Julie, but I knew that somwhere, somehow, the universal clock had hit 9 o' clock right on the dot - yet I also knew that the Julie wouldn't show her true self unless she felt a wave of anger, which she had yet to do.

For Christ's sake, how far was I going to have to go? I didn't want to keep up this stupid act anymore. I didn't want to do this, but -

"Oh, look! Mistletoe!" I grabbed Ben's face and yanked it forward, causing his lips to fall directly on mine.

That was the lighter of the fuse. Julie exploded like a nuclear bomb.

Black wings shot up from her back, claws emerged from her fingernails, and her face morphed into a considerably more hideous one which resembled a typical vampire's. The pale pink dress she had slipped into ripped until it was at the stretching point of decency. Her skin darkened until it was even darker than her hair, and hate was burned into every vein of her body and every line in her eyes.

A surge of triumph ran throughout my body.

But damn.

She was uglier than I expected.

A stream of black fire spouted from her mouth, aimed directly at me. Typical.

"_**DIE, HOPE BURNE!**_"

Grabbing the arm of a terrified Ben, I rushed outside. Just as I had planned, the Kaizulli swooped after us.

I made a great swipe in the air and leapt onto a fiery platform, dragging Ben along. (Shit, I wish I'd thought of bringing clothes to change into.)

"Hey, do me a favor and go away for a bit," I said gruffly to my passenger, who was staring speechlessly at the Kaizulli, as if he'd never seen anything uglier. "Really hard to concentrate when I have to worry about your safety as well."

"You know you didn't have to bring me along," he smirked; a second later, Jetray was swooping away.

"It's just you and me now, fucker!" I shouted at the enraged monster watching her prey escape.

"O Goddess of the Moon above!" Julie screeched to the heavens. "Grant me the strength I require to take down your enemy, the Daughter of the Sun!"

Fireballs burned in my hands. I hated being reminded of that. "HA HA, what's praying to your old mommy gonna -"

A sword made of swirling black fire manifested in her hands, and she swiped it at me, barely grazing my cheek. Where it touched my face it felt though as my skin had been replaced by a gaping hole.

I vanquished my fireballs and created a crimson replica of her sword in my own hands, but it was nowhere as strong as hers. For one thing, it went clean through her neck!

Concentrating harder than I've ever done (and at the same time hoping that I didn't accidentally constipate in my pants), the sword's fire became more heated, more intense.

_Kling! Clang!_

Sword against sword, fire against fire, flesh against flesh. It seemed like my powers weren't holding out, and she would win for sure.

But I knew the spell that would do it. The single, most powerful spell, enough to wipe out even a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

But, could I really follow through on that?

That would _definitely_ end Ben's first love for good.

And he'd be...

_Heartbroken._

And I'm not sure if I can handle that.

However, my one moment of doubtful thinking nearly cost me my life. An enormous ball of hellish fire bowled right into my face, tackling me into a nearby park below.

When I sat up shakily, I realized that I'd been robbed of my lack of sight, as well as my hearing.

I felt like a headless body.

I could speak, but barely, and I couldn't feel my lips either.

All I could sense was a huge black hole in place of my face.

I felt the hard ground beside me with my numb fingers, hoping desperately that this wasn't permanent.

I sensed somebody else's presence beside me. The images played themselves out in my mind, even though I couldn't physically see them.

_"You're dead now, Hope Burne, Daughter of the Sun!" cackled Julie, raising her hands to finish me off in my disabled, weakened state._

_But she was cut off with an "Mmph!" as Ben appeared out of nowhere, pressing his strong lips to hers._

Eww. Ben's a player.

_His hand crept slowly up the torn dress that was way too short for comfort, under which a scaly tail peeked out._

And a pervert as well.

_The Kaizulli demon was too busy darting her tongue in and out of his mouth and rubbing his chest to notice the hand making its way up toward the tattoo on her upper thigh._

I'd nearly forgotten about the tattoo, and the fact that Ben knew about it surprised me. Was he actually reading his stuff? He knew about the vulnerable spots that Kaizullis mark so obviously on themselves. His hand was taking forever, though.

_His hand roamed up the thigh, but stopped short of the tattoo. "I might as well enjoy this while I can," he murmured softly, leaving a trail of kisses to Julie's ear and down her neck._

WHAT? This was skin contact, she was inserting LETHAL VENOM into his bloodstream, and now he was thinking about _going all the way_? And HERE, of all places?

_"You bastard!" I shrieked, smacking him across the face as hard as I could._

_Strangely enough, the demon melted. Literally, melted. Into a pool of bubbling hideous-ness. I perceived its seeping into the ground and being distributed to the roots of all the grass that grew here._

_Ben gazed at me. I gazed at the image of his deep brown eyes, which were unaware that I could not truly see him._

And then, without knowing how it came about, tears started trickling down my cheeks that I could somehow feel again. Julie had been my stepsister... and Ben's girlfriend...

The pain in my heart was so great, it seemed to consume me.

I felt warm arms around me, pulling me close to a body that was even warmer, if possible, than fire I had ever conjured. The fire I burn thrives on fierceness and hatred, but this heat consisted of love and forgiveness.

I fell forward into him, feeling his love embrace me, blinding me, but returning my face and senses back, as my tears bled through his dress shirt.

Right now, I felt like nothing more than a selfish creature, and I hated it.

"Don't worry, Hope," he murmured sadly into my ear, caressing my soft hair. "It's over."

His hand tipped my chin upward, and his lips swell as they meet mine.

There's no doubt about it, I was crying right now.

Because I knew that this was only half of the complete plan.

I wasn't going to let that Omnitrix out of my sight.


	9. Bonding Time

Chapter nine is here! I'm thinking this is coming to an ending soon. O:

This was kind of short, I think. I was just too eager to update though! AHA!

Well, what are you waiting for? Go on, READ! (:

* * *

"Hope Burne, Daughter of the Sun."

"Yes, Master."

"Whatever gift you have decided to acquire for me, I expect to have it by the twenty-sixth of this month, no later."

Silence.

"Something troubles you, Daughter of the Sun?"

"No, Master."

"Excellent. I can only _hope_ that it will help cover for your past misdemeanors."

"It will, Master. I won't disappoint you."

"By the way, my henchmen have reported your frequent appearance in Ben Tennyson's presence."

"I - it's to get close to the Omnitrix, Master."

"Is that the complete truth, Daughter of the Sun?"

Another silence.

"You aren't fraternizing with the holder of the Omnitrix, are you, now?"

"Of course not, Master."

"I can tell you now that it will not fare you well to continue. The boy's good intentions might rub off on you."

"Yes, Master. I'll be more careful."

She switched off the holo-disc and quietly went to bed in the spare bedroom of Ben Tennyson's house.

"One... Two... Three -

"_**SURPRISE! MERRY CHRISTMAS!**_"

"I - what?"

"Today's _Christmas_, Burne," declared Kevin. "You know, day of love, giving, whatever? Get with the times!"

Hope was so shocked, she couldn't speak, but slowly her face split into an incredulous smile as everything sank in.

_Christmas._

Somehow, the simple thought of the word was enough to arouse a light, giddy feeling inside her.

She felt elated, welcome, and loved.

It gave her another inkling of doubt whether this was really worth taking the Omnitrix away after all.

"What's happening out here - Ben?"

Ben smiled. He liked the sound of his name on her soft lips. "That's called _snow_."

_Snow_?

"It comes from clouds - like rain, but it's softer and a little bit more solid. You wanna feel it?" He took her gloveless hand and led her outside, where their feet sank about half an inch in the soft snow. He saw her shiver slightly, and immediately scolded himself for thinking so rashly; he draped his green jacket around her pajamas.

"Thanks," she said reluctantly. "I forgot what it was like, being cold."

"Aren't you like, a Fire Girl or something?" said Ben, half-jokingly.

She threw him a dark look. "My fire used to burn solely on hate. Now it's not as strong as before."

"Why? Hate for who?"

She turned her back on him.

After a moment, she said, in quite a different tone, "I think I'm gonna drive around town a bit. Want to come along?"

"Where are we _going_?"

"Into a wall, of course," she replied sarcastically.

Of course, Ben had assumed Hope would've been a reckless driver, but this was ridiculous! She was zooming past every shop and store at roughly 100 miles per hour, and seemed to sense no fear of getting into an accident! He _knew_ he should've convinced her _not_ to add the extra rocket engines onto the motorcycle (A/N: which is Rooks, but Ben doesn't know), but he'd been too busy fantasizing about her eyes and lips. So now he was clinging tightly onto her waist for dear life as they rushed around corners and through dark alleyways.

Finally, after what seemed like an endless drive, they stopped in a dim alley. Hope climbed off and created a small fire on the floor, melting a circle of snow.

"Sit." She patted the patch of snow next to her. "I want to ask you a few questions."

Ben got off shakily; while he was waiting for his legs to get used to solid ground, his mind was buzzing with all kinds of questions about what she would ask. Would she ask for more mistletoe? Would she question him more about his love life? Would she ask what boyfriends and girlfriends did when they were alone?

"You thirsty?" A thermos and cups seemed to appear out of nowhere. She poured two cups of steaming hot chocolate and handed one to him.

"Sure." It looked like the perfect drink for a snowy day like this.

He tipped the cup to his lips and drank deeply, not noticing how Hope poured her own into the snow without even touching her lips to it.

"Can I ask you some questions?" Hope asked quietly, her hands roaming everywhere on his body, looking for the perfect stimulation.

"Anything," Ben murmured only subconsciously. He was having trouble thinking; his brain seemed to have fallen asleep.

"Where did you get the Omnitrix?' inquired Hope, her voice toned down to barely more than a whisper.

"Xylene - Grandpa Max's love - sent it to Earth," replied Ben mechanically, a vacant look in his green eyes. He would not remember this at all later, Hope knew. "It was meant for my Grandpa Max, but I found it instead, and it latched automatically onto my wrist."

Xylene. That alien.

"When?"

"Kiss me."

She gave him a light kiss on the lips. "_When?_"

"Five years ago."

Hope's eyes widened, but she said nothing.

"How did you get it off - in the null void?" she said softly, her hands seeking his one weak point.

"Vilgax used some kind of machine," mumbled Ben, now unaware of anything but her soft voice. "It hurt," he added.

"Ben," Hope breathed in his ear, her hands clutching his. "Do you _love _me?"

Ben paused for so long Hope feared the Truth Drug had worn off.

"Yes, I love you, Hope Burne. More than the Omnitrix itself..."

Of all things to compare to, it _had_ to be the Omnitrix. There was a sharp gut-wrenching pang in her heart, but she could've slapped herself for letting a tear stray down her cheek. But she didn't let on.

"Ben," she whispered. "Ben, Ben, Ben..."

He reached around her, and they pulled each other close.

"Do you remember what you told me about mistletoe?" She paused. "When two people are under mistletoe, they kiss... And when two people kiss... it must mean they really like each other - Ben -" she pointed upward, even though she knew he couldn't see in his drugged state - "there's some mistletoe... right there."

And she kissed him full on the lips, savoring each last moment before she would have to leave him.

Ben woke up an hour later; he found himself curled into a fetal position on the snow-covered floor. The fire had gone out.

Rubbing his aching head, he groaned and stood up painfully, stretching and twisting this way and that. His head felt as if it had been used in a soccer game. Then he froze. And he looked around.

Hope Burne was gone. And she had taken his jacket with her.

"Where is she?" he sighed. He raised his hand to slap the Omnitrix, ready to fly in search of her.

Only...

The Omnitrix wasn't there.

* * *

*GASP* please *cough* please review *cough cough*


	10. Change

Chapter 10. I have nothing to say about this, really. Just keep on reading!

* * *

"Is this _really_ that urgent, Tennyson?" grumbled Kevin irritably, his hands releasing Gwen's hair. He had been _so_ close to the make-out session he'd been anticipating.

"Hope's gone."

"So?" This time it was Gwen. She was rarely this annoyed.

"She took the Omnitrix with her."

"Again," complained Kevin, his hands fiddling with the steering wheel, "total _waste of time_."

Ben ignored him. "Anything?" he asked Gwen worriedly.

"I'm getting her vibe. It's not very strong, but I can still feel it."

"You said that five minutes ago."

"You _asked_ that five minutes ago."

Discouraged, he sank wearily back into his seat in the back.

_What a rotten way to spend Christmas_, he thought sadly, as images of the times they'd shared together flew through his unsettled mind. Running around town, searching frantically for the girl he'd just begun to fall hard for, who had turned out to be a traitor.

"A traitor," he muttered to himself hatefully. "She's a stupid, rotten, no-good _traitor_." He repeated the words to himself, and the more he did, the more he could feel his former hate resurface. "I want to find her - and I'm going to give her a piece of my mind!"

"I may not have your creepy psychic powers, Gwen," Kevin said, pulling to an abrupt stop, "but I'm pretty sure this is probably a place that girl would hang out."

Ben and Gwen looked where he was pointing and nodded in consent.

There was a large black castle looming in front of them, a sense of doom hovering about its shattered windows, peeling gray paint, and stray bats flying out the attic.

The three of them shivered; they each had half a mind to leave, if they hadn't each felt such a strong bond to her.

"No spiders, no spiders, no spiders," Gwen whimpered anxiously, reluctantly getting out of the car.

They proceeded up the dark path to the front of the house.

"WHO?" a voice growled. "Who _dares_ venture into the headquarters of my mistress and master?"

The trio jumped back fearfully as a giant saber-tooth tiger with enormous fangs leapt out of nowhere in front of them, its reddish-brown eyes glaring intimidatingly at them.

"Oh, it's you three," it said scornfully, its fighting pose relaxing slightly. "I have orders not to hurt you," it reported, turning its back on them. "Consider yourselves lucky."

The creature's voice and eyes looked quite familiar.

"_Scorch?_" Ben said incredulously. Had Hope transformed him into this - this _creature _or something?

"What?" he said crossly. "I can change between human and prehistoric forms. Kinda like you and your worthless Omnitrix."

"Where's Hope? What's she doing?" asked Ben worriedly.

"Relax, your girlfriend's _fine_." He started to slink away. "Follow me if you want to see her."

Without thinking too carefully, the three followed obediently after him, up and down stairs and around corners, through several rooms and on different paths. Finally, they reached the royal room of the castle -

- where they were slammed into respective boards and chained into place!

"What's going on?" Ben shouted, straining to free himself.

"Ha ha ha ha," chuckled a deep voice, clapping sarcastically. "Well-done, Scorch, very well-done! Excellent work, Burne. You just might usurp my position one day."

"Thank you, Master," an overwhelmingly familiar voice replied conceitedly. "I hold that compliment of very high value."

"What did you say it was called again?" her master inquired, its voice cutting into Ben's ears.

"This is the consequence of this so-called - _love_," she replied scornfully. "Mortals will travel to the tips of the clouds, to the depths of the oceans, just for this _love_. They are so unreasonably easy to manipulate, like picking the wings off a butterfly."

To their utmost horror, Hope Burne emerged from the darkness in her usual outfit, a derisive grin on her slightly scarred face.

"My plan succeeded," she said, stepping closer to Ben, "better than I had anticipated, I admit. I managed to place myself right in your inner circle, Benjamin Tennyson, and let you put all your trust in me. Quite a mistake now, don't you realize?" She stroked his cheek playfully. Ben wanted to slap it away, if not for the bonds cutting into his wrists and ankles.

"Tell me," she breathed, "do you still _love _me? Even now?"

He ground his teeth. "YOU TRAITOR!" he shouted furiously, his voice resounding off the walls of the near-empty room. "YOU LYING, THIEVING, NO-GOOD B-"

"Oh dear, it seems we have trouble controlling your mouth," she said mockingly. A swish of her hand created gags made of magical fire that sealed itself across her victims' mouths. "Yes," she said quietly, watching the apparent pain on their faces, "it burns, doesn't it? It burns like _hell_. Fire burns strongly with the hate I have toward you goody-two-shoes idiots."

"Cart them into the dungeon," said her master lazily in a bored voice. "I have no need for them."

"As you wish, Master." She bowed deeply. "Let's go, Scorch."

"This sucks," Gwen mumbled, picking at the bars of her cage.

"No shit," Kevin replied contemptuously, tossing a stray pebble out of the bars of his.

The three of them were in a large room that was barely lighter than totally pitch-black. Their cages were in three different corners, and there was barely room to stretch; they could only sit, hugging their knees, or stand. The fourth cage had an ominous human skeleton - evidently, it had starved to death, but there had been no attempt to remove it.

"I can't believe I let her control me like that," Ben said, utterly depressed. "I should've known better!"

"Didn't we all, Ben?" Gwen said miserably. She felt like crying. What had once been euphoria at finding a new friend was now confusion, befuddlement, distress.

They'd been here for over an hour. Hope had placed a call to their families, ensuring that their kids were safe and there was no need for policemen to come snooping around for them.

Just then, the dungeon door opened, and an unexpected visitor was thrown brutally in the fourth cell.

"Treachery will not be forgiven, Hope Burne," said the master from before, "even among our kind! You will pay your debt by serving your time as well."

"See ya 'round, _Hope_," Scorch the saber-tooth tiger said scathingly, following his master out and using his tail to close the door behind them.

There was an awkward silence between them for a few minutes. Finally -

"Fancy seeing _you_ here," Ben said coldly, trying to disguise the pain and longing he felt for her. "Bet you wanna go over the good side now, huh?"

Silence.

"I can't believe you could _lie_ to us like that, you greedy, selfish, stuck-up bitch," he continued, trying to make his words pierce her as hurtfully as hers had so often cut into him.

More silence.

"YO, HOPE BURNE!" Kevin shouted, sending a shower of rocks her way. They clinked off the bars harmlessly.

"Shut up, you bastard, you're ruining my concentration!" It was the same ordering tone she had used so often before.

"Concentration for _what_?" said Gwen hopelessly. "We're stuck in different jail cells, with _no _food or water, all our powers were taken away, and you're worried about _concentrating_?"

"Go to hell!" said Ben as hurtfully as he could.

"SHUT - THE FUCK - UP!" she said, more loudly this time. "I planned this, okay?"

"Right, and where's that going to get us?"

"I'm trying to remember where the trigger spot in the cell is."

"The what?"

"How can you be so sure it's going to work, whatever your plan is?" Gwen said unhappily. She had been fed a large dose of the Hopeless Hellth Potion; the result was that her negative moods were greatly exaggerated.

Hope ceased her scraping and turned to face Gwen in the cell opposite her. "Do you know why my mom named me _Hope_?"

Gwen shook her head, which could barely be seen in the dim light.

"It's because I was born during a time of a Giant Depression," Hope explained, an edge to her voice. "I was the one who was sure to carry the powers through the family, bringing hope to everyone merely by telling them everything would be all right; I was a symbol of _hope_. That's why."

"Yeah, and I'm named after Benjamin Franklin," Ben said in a mocking voice. What a load of bull shit, how was being _hopeful_ going to help them get out of this situation now? "Why can't you use your powers and bust yourself out of here?"

"If I still had them, do you think I'd still be here having this nice chat, Tennyson?" she answered scornfully, resuming her ear-splitting scraping. "He stole my powers too. They're all rather nice additions to the Omnitrix."

"I'll never forgive you for this," Kevin said menacingly, putting his hands on the jail bars and straining to absorb something, _anything_. "You realize that?"

"Gee, I wonder what else is new," she shot back, running her fingernails across the bars.

"Do you think this is _funny_?" said Ben angrily. "Our friendship, our _partnership_, our depending on each other, everything we did together - and you're willing to just _throw it all away_?" He punched the wall as hard as he could, but it stayed untainted, blank as his mind.

Hope didn't answer.

"Hope," Gwen said gloomily, "whatever I did to offend you or make me so much... I'm really sorry. I wish it had never happened. All I wanted was a best friend to talk with and confide in." A tear slid down her cheek, and she buried her face in her arms. "I trusted you so much, Hope, I confided all my secrets in you, I - but you're just going to leave me behind? I feel like - I feel like I want to _die_."

There was silence.

"What about me?" Ben interjected, his voice losing some of its edge as well. He clung onto the bars and tried to remember what her face looked like. "What about my feelings for you? Doesn't that count as something too? Are you just going to leave me behind, just like everyone else, to live without you... Do you know how _hard_ it is to leave someone you love, Hope? Am I nothing - _nothing_ - to you?"

Silence, except for ragged breathing.

"Gwen." Hope's voice nearly cracked. "I'm - I'm s-I'm sorry, too." She sniffed. She rubbed a hand over her heart in vain to try to ease the irrevocable pain that had come to her when she said those simple words. "I didn't know I would feel this bad when -"

"You, you, you, it's always about you!" Ben shouted at her. "Have you ever thought about what _I_ felt? Or what other people feel?"

"Ben." The tears were flowing faster now, and Hope was afraid she would suddenly melt. "I - I l-I love you too."

Nothing else could have comforted Ben more than those four words right at that moment.

All was forgiven.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, streams dripping down her face. "Is there anything I can do to help fix the pain?"

"Well, you could help us get out of this joint," Kevin said casually, his head nodding.

An unexpected smile formed on her ragged face, even through the waterworks.

"Done."

* * *

Barely three pages in Microsoft Word! Oh well, I hope you're not too disappointed?

The next chapter comes up soon! Very soon!


	11. Escape?

OH MY GOD IS IT THE LAST CHAPTER ALREADY ?

* * *

_Hope's point of view_

"We couldn't have taken the normal exit?" grumbled Ben, crawling along behind me.

"Yeah, prisoners just waltzing out the back door as calmly as if we're going to buy ice cream or something," I replied sarcastically, rolling my eyes.

We were in the classic situation of crawling around in stuffy air vents. I _hated_ it because since I was the one who knew the way around, I had to crawl in the front; however, I didn't like having to crawl in front of _Ben's_ face, who probably enjoyed staring at my ass. Shit.

I wished Gwen and Kevin were here. But they didn't want to trust me anymore, so they told me to leave them back in the Jail Room.

I cursed under my breath as I peered down into the Power Room. That was one hell of a far jump down.

"Where are we?"

"The Power Room. It's where he keeps all his 'prizes', magical powers that he takes from people. Now he's got the Omnitrix, he can fuse them all into his own body." My eyes darted around in search of my target.

There it was! The little fireball-y thing in the corner of the room, which represented my extracted powers, was glowing rather brightly in comparison to the dozens of other magical spheres in the dimly lit room.

My hands reached to pull up the vent and hop down - but then I remembered that the Omnitrix was definitely more important at the moment.

Even so, I could also see Gwen's pink mana and Kevin's gravelly sphere not far from my fireball, both representatives of their respective abilities.

Immediately I pushed the air shaft aside and hopped in, landing smoothly with a somersault to the side, leaping back in shock as a violently red laser flashed right before my face.

Ben jumped in, but was forced into a back bend as another bright laser appeared for a split second right where his head had been; even worse was that he had another one right under his back.

"Don't - move," I said in a low voice, trying to sense where the other lasers were. Clever, Master, countering against my invisibility skill against me in this way.

"Like I have a choice," he said through clenched teeth. I could see he was quite uncomfortable.

I jumped off the wall and rebounded onto another, carefully making my way through the lasers. I nearly triggered some of the alarms though; that proves I need more practicing my agility.

"What are you _doing_?" Ben said, alarmed, seeing me reach for Gwen's and Kevin's powers.

"Shut up, I know what I'm doing," I hissed, contemplating the matter.

"I won't let you!" he seethed. "You lying, no-good -"

"All right, you're starting to repeat yourself," I replied, slightly annoyed. "Just - just trust me, okay?"

The look on his face was devastating. Wrong choice of words.

Just as my hand was about to touch the two little spheres of magical power, there issued a _BOOOP! BOOOP!_ from the speakers all around - holy shit, Ben couldn't even hold a back bend for another few seconds?

_BOOOP! BOOOP!_

In all his confusion and attempts to fully rest his legs and arms, Ben didn't notice me absorb the two spheres of magic.

_BOOOP! BOOOP!_

"We have to run!" he panicked.

_BOOOP! BOOOP!_

"Wait," I murmured, running my hands over my scarred arms. The feeling of magical power had been restored, but this time it had a completely different feel - like Gwen's and Kevin's own arms were sewn to my shoulders.

_BOOOP! BOOOP!_

Suddenly, I raised a hand and aimed a hand at the doorway; a beam of bright pink forced it open.

_BOOOP! BOOOP!_

It was so effortless. I _could_ get used to this.

_BOOOP! BOOOP!_

"Hope!" Ben exclaimed, horrified at what he'd just witnessed.

_BOOOP! BOOOP!_

"Fine, let's go!"

_BOOOP! BOOOP!_

I grabbed his hand, and we rushed through the open doorway. I didn't even remember that my own powers were back in the room.

_BOOOP! BOOOP!_

"Your hands feel different," he commented uneasily.

_BOOOP! BOOOP!_

The alarm stopped.

The guards were on the move.

Left - right - left - left - or was it right? Panic had jumbled up my mental map of the castle, and I couldn't find the way I came.

We skidded to a stop in some random room - a dead end. What we were faced with nearly made both our hearts stop.

DNAliens.

Hundreds of them.

All armed with detonators.

"Oh, _shit_," I breathed, backing away slowly, but the sliding doors shut behind us with a sense of finality. "Help, _someone_."

The air vents above us broke open, and Gwen and Kevin leapt in triumphantly, assuming their fighting stances.

"Need help?" Kevin said casually over his shoulder, glaring at the advancing DNAliens. And I almost forgot.

I recited a long string of Latin and Greek words, placing two hands on Kevin's and Gwen's navels, feeling utterly embarrassed all the while; but at least the transfer of powers was successful.

"That might help a little bit," I smirked, satisfied. They were staring at their hands, their feeling of magic and control returning to them all of a sudden.

I started to join the rush toward the enemy, but Ben grabbed my wrist and held me back, a concerned look in his eye. "There must be _hundreds_ of these, how can you expect to fight them _all_ without your powers?"

I yanked my hand away and gave him a steely look. I wasn't one to back down from a challenge. "I'll just have to rely on natural ability and pure luck. My legs are pretty powerful."

I hope that inspired him a little - I only remembered just then how stupidly dependant he was on that Omnitrix.

However, even my martial arts techniques and Kevin's and Gwen's abilities weren't enough to eliminate even a quarter of them. Then I got an idea.

I swung myself up to the highest rafter of the room and thundered my loudest yet,

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU BASTARDS DOING? STOP ATTACKING MY PRISONERS!"

I had to stifle a laugh as they retreated, alarmed, through the door on the opposite side of the room.

I jumped down and landed in a squatting position. "Come on," I said hoarsely to the three, rushing through the door.

I tried to recall the virtual map of the castle in my mind, but it was all slipping away from me -

I came to an abrupt stop in front of the Royal Throne Room, my breaths coming out in short quick intervals. And I led them in.

The lights flashed, and there stood my master in his dark flowing robe, its hood pulled over his head; there was a horribly familiar blood-red aura about him.

"Well, Hope Burne," he hissed. "It looks like you've brought your friends back to play once more, have you?" He chuckled in a way that would've sent chills up my spine. "You know I never tire of resurrecting old toys."

The four of us were too horrorstruck to move. No, scratch that - we couldn't! He had already absorbed the magical abilities of so many others - including mine! - giving him so much power it was horrible to imagine. The only way I could move at all was my eyeballs, and yeah, that was _so_ much of a big help.

"Your powers have done me a great deal of help, Hope Burne, Daughter of the Sun," he cackled. "Would you like to have a look at my reconstructed face? I think you will like it very much."

Dramatically he lifted up his hood and pushed it back.

I wanted to _scream_.

Ben Tennyson's face!

BEN'S!

"Yes, quite handsome, isn't it?" said Master loftily, his hands feeling around it, rejoicing in its novelty. "Well, it's not like you can simply flip through a book of facial designs, you know, they're rather hard to - ooh, looks like you're drooling at the mere sight of my newly crafted face, Hope Burne. Here, let me clean that up for you."

Grinning evilly, he stepped in front of me and put his lips on my half-open mouth, letting his snakelike tongue wipe up the involuntary drool on my chin. The next moment he had his own scarred hands groping my behind, feeling my stomach, rubbing my back -

And I had no choice but to act the same to him; he was using his newfound mind-control powers, rendering me helpless against his charm!

I could feel sweat forming at the roots of my hair as I struggled as hard as I could to wrench myself from this painfully blissful make-out session. I tried to tell myself this was just Ben, not Master and his semi-sexual abuse; but Ben's teeth were softer, and Master's were like fangs...

Finally, I mustered enough willpower to bite down on his slimy tongue and pinch his inner thighs, causing him to flinch backward in pain.

I wiped his drool from my face. Disgusting. At least his spell was broken.

But just as I was going to fling myself at him in anger and beat the shit out of Ben - I mean, Master - he held up a gun. I wasn't fazed, but I held back for a second: people with powers never used guns unless for special purposes.

"Oho," he said quietly, his stare piercing right through me, "afraid of guns now, are you, Hope Burne? But you have good reason to, at least this time. _This_ gun is filled with that marvelous potion I taught you to concoct; you created this the other day - the Memory-Zapper, I presume?"

Oh, SHIT! The Memory-Zapper! I totally forgot to use it on Ben from Julie! I felt like grabbing a hammer and knocking myself out with it. How could I have been so damn _stupid_?

There was a shadow of a smile on his face; a face which no longer had a human sense to it. "I thank you much for your marvelous creation," he continued, his words like daggers cutting into my skin. "It saved me much time. Luckily, I was able to extract the Kaizulli's contamination; this is the _pure_ version. Add _one drop of Essence of Hope_ -" he leaned forward and plucked a particularly long strand of hair from my head and dropped it into the potion, taking care to keep the gun aimed at my heart - "and of course, the potion is no longer pure. Make _one_ move, Hope Burne. _One move_. And Ben Tennyson's memories of you are wiped forever from his otherwise useless little brain.

"Oh, and did I mention this gun is also rigged with a Depression Drug? Just my little addition; the victim will feel so - _hopeless_! Get it? _HOPE_ - less!" He laughed loudly and obnoxiously at his own joke. I can't believe I ever took orders from this bastard.

I'd made my decision. It was now or never.

I made a giant leap sideways, and he shot the projectile missile straight at Ben, just as anticipated.

Except it was _I_ who he found there. I'd jumped right in front of Ben.

The needle pierced right through the middle of my neck, right in my one weak spot.

I crumpled to the ground in front of Ben, my mind now a swirling set of thoughts and images, none of which seemed to matter much anymore.

And everything slowly faded to black...

_A black nothingness._

* * *

The end.


	12. EPILOGUE

**EDIT:** APRIL 11, 2012.

I took down this epilogue (last edited in June 2011) and re-uploaded it in case anyone tracking this wanted to see it. I've changed the second half of this epilogue to better suit the idea I've got for the sequel. I'm really amazed at how many people want to see a sequel! Thank you all so so much for supporting me, it really means a lot to me!

The thing is, though, the last time I actually watched Ben 10 was in June 2011. Those were the Omnitrix episodes. I haven't watched Ben 10 since, but a quick search yesterday told me that apparently there's a new series off of that with an Ultrimatrix in the Omniverse? Idunno... So just a warning, if I do do a sequel it'll be based off of him with the Omnitrix. And the characterizations most likely won't be 100% accurate. I'm sorry, but I just don't have time to watch alllllll of those episodes and get all that stuff straight anymore. :/

That being said though... I hope you enjoy this revised epilogue! A sequel is 90% sure on the way!

.

* * *

**_Epilogue_**

Ben stared at the crumpled body on the floor in front of him. He was speechless with horror, numb with shock.

What had just happened? What had he just witnessed?

The Other Ben shoved the gun irritably back into his pocket, muttering furiously.

"Useless girl," Ben heard him spit. "Good-for-nothing mortal."

"Hope?" whispered Ben anxiously. She did not answer.

"Hope?" he called again, desperately.

Why didn't she answer?

Why couldn't she answer?

Why _wouldn't_ she answer?

Suddenly, Ben felt rage taking over him, an irrepressible fury that he had never felt before. Only a rage this terrible could have given him the strength to break out of these chains. Only a rage this terrible could have motivated him to act in such a reckless manner, bringing him to the verge of insanity. Only a rage this terrible could have obliterated all rational thought from his mind.

And a feeling as intense as this could have been induced only by his deep attachment for Hope Burne.

A roar escaped Ben's lips as he flung himself blindly at the man who had hurt her, the man who had damaged her memory beyond repair, the man who had betrayed her, the man in possession of his Omnitrix - the man who had stolen his _face._

Ben found himself punching, kicking, flailing senselessly at any part of the man's body he could reach, any part that would render him pain, pain, pain, enough pain to make him repent for what he had done to her, enough pain to make him feel remorse for everything he'd done to him, enough pain to bring him to his knees and beg for mercy, and the man cried out briefly in surprise, but immediately responded with a burst of fire, and it burned, it burned more than anything else he'd ever experienced, even more than Hope's fire had ever burned him, but that was okay, because he felt alive, alive because he was fighting with his own body, not an Omnitrix's form, alive because he was fighting for -

"Stop."

The both of them stopped dead. That voice...

In the exact place where Hope Burne had fallen, a girl stood there. A girl with a head of untamed hair, with scars on her bare forearms, and a blazing sphere of fire floating in her right hand.

She was Hope Burne in every way possible, yet she seemed more ferocious than Hope Burne had ever been before.

She advanced on the two of them, the ball of fire bouncing between her hands, stopping when she reached Ben - not Ben Tennyson, but The Other Ben.

_What is she _doing_?_ Ben thought to himself, panicking.

"Oi!" he yelled at her, but she didn't seem to hear. "_I'm_ Ben Tennyson! That's the master, the guy that tortured you and betrayed you! Hey, are you listening to me? I said, HEY!"

Hope turned to him, her eyes ablaze with fire.

"I don't care," replied she coldly.

It was as if an icicle had pierced his heart. A frightening chill rolled over him; he stayed rooted to the spot, unable to move.

He couldn't tear his eyes away as he watched her hands snake around her master's waist, embracing him, pulling him in to a tight kiss as her hands roamed everywhere. They slipped inside his shirt, squeezing him tightly, reeling him in as their lips danced in unison.

Ben looked away in agony, the pangs in his heart consuming him.

He saw a bright flash of fire from the corner of his eye. Startled, he looked back, but The Other Ben was nowhere to be seen. Instead, there stood Hope Burne with a spark of steel in her eye. She was covered in soot, but she was there.

Hope tore her gaze from the place where The Other Ben had been, and looked Ben full in the face. She was even prettier when she was tough.

"Hey, Ben," she said to him, smiling. "Long time no see."

She reached out and hugged him; he gripped her tightly, forcing back tears from his eyes. The terror of almost losing her had definitely caused him to lose his mind.

"Hope," he murmured, caressing her hair, "I love you."

Suddenly, she turned her head and kissed him fiercely, but not before he saw that spark of steel again in her eye.

"Remember," she breathed against his mouth, "natural ability and pure luck."

At the touch of her lips, he fell unconscious.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"The name's Hope." She grinned lazily, her brown eyes sparkling with light that made them glow with a tinge of red.

"I know that," he replied, sort of confused.

She shook her head, still grinning. "In a little bit you won't. But that's okay."

"What do you mean?" he asked. He reached out to grab her hand, but she shied away quickly.

Still grinning, she turned, and walked away, the dark mist around them swallowing her up.

"Wait - Hope!" he called after her. Where did she think she was going? He still had a lot of questions to ask, about her, about her family, her abilities, how she came to be -

He called her name again. The name and face jumped to mind - but something curious was happening. Somewhere inside him, he felt like he was trying to grab at something, something that was slipping away. What was it grabbing at? What was it that was slipping away? Whatever his subconscious was trying desperately to retrieve, it was fading away fast, to be replaced by what felt like a hole in his mind.

He felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning around, he saw her again and was about to breathe a sigh of relief - until he realized that this was not who he thought it was.

The figure was the same height as the one that had just left, but that was all he could discern from the dark mist surrounding them. Two red eyes stared right into his own green ones. The rest of the figure just seemed to be black. Just... black.

Suddenly, without warning, the figure reached back with his left hand and delivered a shocking blow right to his right shoulder.

"YOW!"

"Ah, Tennyson, you're finally awake," the teacher acknowledged calmly, only glancing up once from his book.

Snickering erupted from random areas of the classroom.

"Seeing as it's the first week of senior year, I'll let it go. In the future you'll be suffering more severe consequences."

Ben snapped fully awake at those words.

Senior year?

But Christmas dance in junior year had only been the other day - hadn't it? Come to think of it, the events at Christmas dance - in fact, right up until this moment - became a chaotic blur in his mind. A blur that threatened to suck up the rest of his mind, the longer he thought about.

He shivered a little, even though he was wearing his trademark green jacket. Maybe it was just the recent blow to his shoulder, but he felt a little colder on his right side than his left.

Glancing over to his right, he saw that the person sitting next to him wasn't the person he expected it to be. He'd been expecting - he'd been expecting -

The blur in his mind became more like a black hole, leeching off the remainder of his memories. He tried not to think about that.

"I - uh - hi," said Ben lamely. He didn't recognize the guy, which was unusual because he knew almost all of the guys in his year.

The new student straightened up and glanced over to return Ben's stare. With black jeans, topped with a white tee and a black jacket, and a messy black haircut, the newcomer was... _hot?_

Ben tried to take in all of the new guy's appearance discreetly, from his black converse to his evidently toned figure to the small skateboard keychain on which was an ornate R was emblazoned. The other student, on the other hand, wasn't so secretive about his actions. His brown eyes wandered all over Ben; a hint of contempt could be traced in them.

His eyes snapped back up to meet Ben's.

"The name's Kole," he replied lazily.


End file.
